Archive for the 'Derrick Rose' Tag Under 'Lakers' Category

Based on the second returns in NBA All-Star fan voting, Andrew Bynum is on cruise control toward his first All-Star berth.

Bynum has a commanding lead in voting to be the Western Conference All-Star starting center on Feb. 26 in Orlando. He has 777,365 votes with the next-closest West center being the Clippers' DeAndre Jordan at 214,883.

That sets Bynum up to jump for the tip-off of the All-Star Game (even if they do get traded for each other) against Orlando center Dwight Howard, who leads the voting among East centers and actually all players. (Bynum and Howard will first face off Friday night, also at Orlando's second-year Amway Center.)

Lakers forward Pau Gasol has some work to do if he is to join Bryant and Bynum in the West's starting lineup. Gasol, chosen as a reserve via coaches' vote the past two years, has 327,596 fan votes to rank fourth among West forwards. The slotted starters are Kevin Durant with 973,152 and Blake Griffin with 619,913. Dirk Nowitzki is slightly ahead of Gasol for third at 354,434, and UCLA product Kevin Love is fifth at 232,656.

Odom, who usually wore a bracelet on each wrist while playing, was clear that day in Philadelphia that the bracelets improve his balance, in his opinion. He tried to demonstrate how he wound up rolled over on the court one day going after a ball and had no other idea how he emerged from it injury-free and balanced.

Power Balance has naming rights in Sacramento of the previously named Arco Arena, where the Kings play. Anyone who has purchased a Power Balance bracelet can get $30 back, plus $5 shipping, according to The Bee. The company founders are brothers Troy and Josh Rodarmel, who started it in January 2007.

While Kobe Bryant's name has been popping up constantly in speculation about him playing in Turkey or China (or now even just in exhibitions in China), the Lakers' other All-Star has been immersed in the game with the Spanish national team.

Assuming the NBA lockout persists, the games would take place at Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena, where Gasol buddy Rafael Nadal is usually the Spanish sports star doing work during the Australian Open tennis tournament.

Kobe Bryant gave a thumbs up to Chicago's Derrick Rose earning 2011 MVP honors, the youngest player to win the league-wide award and first Bulls player since Michael Jordan.

"I love it," Kobe said Tuesday. "I'm happy for him. Great job."

In his third season, Rose led the Bulls to their best season since the Jordan era with 62 victories.

The 22-year-old guard received 1,182 points and 113 first-place votes from media voters, replacing Wes Unseld as the youngest to win the award. Orlando's Dwight Howard (643 points) finished second, Miami's LeBron James was third and Bryant was fourth.

Asked if Bryant would have voted for himself over Rose, the Lakers star said emphatically, "No."

The award ballots are due back in the NBA office by noon Pacific time Thursday, and I've still got plenty to sort out in my head ... led by figuring out if I am still leaning toward giving more credit toward Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau over Bulls star Derrick Rose.

Feel free to weigh in with your thoughts on Coach of the Year and MVP. I'm not a hard-core stats guy, but I did actually score higher on the math than the verbal on my SAT, so I can sort through the meanings of numbers. I do believe in putting some stock in what stats stay, especially some of the newfangled ones that better evaluate things.

It's interesting to look at the Player Efficiency Ratings put together by ESPN.com''s John Hollinger and see his top 10 player is LeBron James by a significant margin over Dwight Howard. The rest of the top 10 (in order) are: Dwyane Wade, Kevin Love, Chris Paul, Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, Pau Gasol and Dirk Nowitzki.

Of particular interest to Lakers fans would be that despite not turning up his game until after the All-Star break, Andrew Bynum ranks 18th to Carmelo Anthony's 19th. Lamar Odom is 31st, one spot ahead of Chris Bosh.

Steve Blake, the Lakers' top free-agent acquisition, is way, way down on the list -- tied with Juwan Howard for No. 325, just behind Josh Powell and Joey Graham.

All the players in the big Lakers at Dallas showdown game are available for your lineups in our latest $4K Saturday NBA Slam.

The NBA has a busy 9-game schedule for Saturday, with top teams Chicago, Miami and San Antonio also in action.

It's $10 to enter for a shot at $4,000 in prizes, but as usual, players who join from ocregister.fanduel.com can get their entry fee back if they finish ahead of Kevin Ding and myself.

Don't miss this chance to pair Derrick Rose with Kobe Bryant in an MVP backcourt, with Dwyane Wade (all pictured at right in the All-Star Game) and perhaps rookie John Wall. That won't leave a lot of budget for the rest of your lineup, though.

It's no surprise that Phil Jackson, with his years of triangle offense, prefers system-oriented team basketball.

And I suppose it's no surprise that the opinion-sharing Jackson didn't withhold his view before the Lakers-Heat game Thursday that Miami's offense with stars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade is very much lacking in that regard.

Jackson said he enjoys watching San Antonio's and Boston's style of games before adding: "I'm not a big fan of the style Miami plays. I like to see everybody involved."

Jackson went on to compare Miami's attack to "Xbox games or whatever those games are when you play 1-on-1."

Jackson didn't have all disparaging remarks, recalling that the Heat offense worked well enough in beating the Lakers, 96-80, on Christmas.